Brazilian Soccer Team Requesting Blood From Fans

Sports is serious business – it generates a ton of revenue and fanfare. A team’s branding, color scheme or logo is sacred – followers hold it dearly. You mess with it and you’re bound to get crucified by legions of diehard loyalists. But a Brazilian soccer team is kicking caution to the wind by tweaking its look to help drive blood donations.

The EC Vitória ‘Rubro-negros’ or ‘Red and Blacks’ don’t get too creative with their jerseys – they have red and black stripes. But those alternating colors are as hallowed as the Yankees pinstripes.

As part of a campaign to encourage fans to donate blood, the team began its season with white stripes in place of the red. Like one of those classic fundraiser thermometers that tracks donations, the team will fill in the white with red to show the charity’s progress. The campaign, titled, ‘My Blood is Red and Black’ is being promoted through Facebook and social media, asking fans to send in pictures of themselves donating. A promotional video reminds fans, “Vitória has always bled for you. Now it’s time to give back.”

In related news, if you’re blood is black, you’ve either got a smoking problem or you’ve been bit by an alien. This promotion must suck for the players – they could be bleeding like balls but everyone just thinks more donations are flowing in.